Behind Bars
by SpunkiSpirou
Summary: Sonia owns a pizza parlour and has her brothers and a few close friends work there with her. Business is going well until a small incident puts Manic into a prison.
1. Prologue

**SpunkiSpirou:** Hello to all my readers out there. This is a revamp of the original Prison Problems (title has been modified) which was uploaded 10 years ago now. I feel this version is a whole lot better, but I'll let you, my reviewers, decide that for certain. Here is the prologue for the story, enjoy.

* * *

Queen Aleena had left a pizza parlour in the heart of the town to her daughter Sonia, which she had been running for several successful years now.

The pizza parlour benefitted from having an eat in and a delivery service.

Sonia's two brothers and a couple of friends also worked there. As manager Sonia called all the shots; who did what job, what drinks they served and what toppings they had on the pizzas aside from the classic cheese one.

They were known for having the fastest deliveries of all the pizza parlours in the region, after all they had Sonic to thank for that. Sonic was a super speedy blue hedgehog, his job was collecting the pizzas for delivery and whizzing around all over delivering them on time. He always got them done on time, customers only had to wait for their orders to cool down as opposed to waiting around for the delivery driver to arrive.

Sonic's friend, a twin tailed fox nicknamed Tails, also worked at the parlour. His job was to collect dirty dishes and clean the tables down. He was a sharp little thing, able to invent awesome little gadgets to help with the workload.

Then there was the kitchen staff, a red echidna named Knuckles who cleaned the utensils and did other odd jobs, such as taking the rubbish out. He was the only one, aside from Sonia, not expected to be in at set times. He could essentially just show up at whatever time he fancied, as his jobs could be covered by the other workers anyway.

And then there was the chef, Sonic and Sonia's younger brother, Manic. A green hedgehog who had the tricks of the trade, able to multitask without becoming confused or mixed up, which was Sonic's issue and the reason why he no longer ran the kitchen.

Everything was well, the business was thriving, hundreds of happy customers, Sonia had the well off lifestyle she had been brought up with and had wanted ever since.

Now if only Manic could show up for work on time...


	2. Chilling

Manic was in his room as usual. His own room away from his siblings who weren't allowed in there, a poster hung on the door that read "Keep Out" on it, signed by Manic, with an added smiley face. Inside he had everything he needed, a nice comfy bed, cushy turquoise carpet along the floor, his drum kit was to one side of the room in a corner. He also had various posters scattered around the walls, posters which were usually viewable but today a dense smoky substance had filled his room.

It was a strange smoke, it wasn't black like there was a fire it was almost like a bunch of clouds had drifted in through the window and were just mingling together. But Manic didn't care too much about it, as long as he cleared it all away after he was done, everything was cool.

He was laid on his bed, his eyes half open gazing up at the white swirly smoke as it danced around above him. Everything was so quiet around him, it was relaxing and just so peaceful. This was the sweet life. He glanced over at his clock on the bedside table, it was nearly noon, his shift at the parlour was at noon.

Manic thought for a second, and decided he had enough time left. He sat up on his bed and pulled a few things from his trusty fanny pack. A small sheet of what looked to be white paper, but slightly see through, a circular white shape and a small bag which looked as though it was filled with grass clippings and catnip. Manic set the bag and the small circular white shape down on the side of the bed next to him and folded the piece of paper in half but then opened it again. He put it on the table next to his bed, and positioned the circular white piece to one end of the paper. He then picked up the bag with the green stuff in it and took some out. He took a deep sniff of it and exhaled, it smelt so good. Oh man it smelt so damn amazing! He began to place it onto the paper, adding just enough so it filled the space between the white thing he had put in it, and still left a little bit at the end. He re-sealed the bag with the remainder in it and then picked up the sheet with the green stuff in it. He licked one side of the paper and then rolled it together, sticking it down and twisting the empty tip into a point, completely sealing the green inside.

He pulled open one of the draws on his bedside table and fished around inside for a moment before pulling out a fluorescent green lighter. He clicked it with his thumb a couple of times before a nice orange flame erupted from the end of it, which he held against the pointed tip until it took ahold and burned slightly. He put the lighter back into the draw and pushed it shut before putting the non-lit end of the item against his lips and taking a deep drag from it.

Manic laid back down on his bed and slowly breathed out, a thick white smoke escaped from his mouth and floated up towards the rest of the white smoke that had already pre-filled his room. Manic smiled dreamily. Weed. The most relaxing thing he had ever come across. Sure others would say it was bad and that he shouldn't be taking it, but he didn't care for others opinions on it. They didn't take it, so who were they to say it was bad and would cause bad things to happen, such as paranoia. There was nothing to be paranoid about! It helped him relax and forget the world, he took another drag, the taste was just so amazing!

His bed felt so amazingly soft and snuggly, he felt like he was floating on a cloud. Everything was awesome. Manic began to hum a tune in his head, ''_Everything is awesome, everything is cool, everything is awesome when you're living out a dream._'' he was so out of reality he had forgotten all about his shift.

A loud hammering on his door shot him back to reality as he bolted up in bed from the shock. "Argh!" he cried out.

"Manic!" came a voice from the other side. "Manic! Your shift started a half hour ago, Sonia sent me to come check on you and where you're at?" it was Tails.

"Um yeah dude I'll be there in a Manic Moment, I just drifted off a bit, but all is cool,"

"Alright then, Sonia isn't very happy though, so uh good luck with that. I'll see you down there," and with that he left.

Manic listened to his fading footsteps as he went. "Oh man!" he sighed deeply as he rubbed the side of his head with his free hand. He looked at the clock on the side, it had gone half noon, he was so late. He looked at the joint in his other hand and took a quick drag from it again. He breathed out and fanned the smoke away from his face as he stood up from the bed.

"Hey can I have the rest of that?"

Manic looked down. "Oh yeah sure, here you go Knuckles," he passed the remainder of the joint down to the red echidna who was sprawled out on his bedroom floor. He unclipped his fanny pack from around his waist and hung it on the post at the foot of his bed as he stepped over to a mirror hanging on the wall.

He ran his fingers through his spines, trying and failing to style them into something other than their current mess. He fumbled around a bit more and then gave up, he could never do anything with them.

"Dude remember to open the windows before you leave, get rid of the smoke, yeah?" he said as he walked past Knuckles back to his door.

Knuckles took a drag from the joint "Sure man," he breathed out, pumping more smoke out into the small room.

"And make sure you hide the bag back in that third drawer too," as he reached the door.

"Yeah man,"

"Guess I'll catch you whenever you decide to roll up at work then, later dude," he slipped out of his bedroom door, closing it shut behind him. Now to get to work before Sonia flipped her lid completely.


	3. Late Again

Sonia paced back and forth in front of the serving counter in the pizza parlour. Manic was late for the fourth time that week.

"I told him noon! I told him his shift started at twelve noon! Where is he? Why is he late again?" she growled angrily.

"Sonia chill he'll get here," Sonic called from the kitchen in the back. "Besides I can cover the cooking and the deliveries,"

"That isn't the point Sonic!" Sonia growled again. "If he worked for another employer he would have got the sack by now. It just isn't on!"

"So he sleeps in super late its no biggie sis,"

The door to the parlour creaked open as someone walked in. Sonia spun on her heel "Manic Hedgehog!"

Tails grinned and waved. "H-h-hi Sonia,"

"Where's Manic?" Sonia grumbled.

"He's on his way, he won't be long he just lost track of time,"

Sonia ran her fingers through her hair. "I'll be in the office, let me know when he gets here," and with that she walked into the office slamming the door behind her. A framed certificate of the parlour receiving four stars tilted to the side slightly.

Sonic giggled as Tails stepped over to re-straighten the framed document on the wall. "Manic's in trouble again. So what was he doing this time Tails?"

"He was shut up in his room again,"

"He spends way too much time in there. I hope he's not stealing again, he doesn't need to steal things anymore," Sonic dashed into the kitchen and returned with a stack of three pizza boxes. "Ok need to go take this delivery out, back in a flash," he zipped out the doors before Tails could get a reply in.

* * *

Manic casually walked down the footway towards the pizza parlour, he smiled as he listened to his favorite song inside his head. "_It's just another Manic Monday. Wish it were a Sunday. Cause that's my fun day. But it's another Manic Monday_," he skipped and danced as he sang it over again in his head before bursting through the doors of the parlour. "Whoooo!" he screamed.

The office door slammed open, causing the certificate to drop straight to the floor this time. "MANIC HEDGEHOG!"

Manic's face instantly fell as he saw his older sister's face.

"Get in here NOW!" she yelled.

He dragged his feet as he walked over to the office, "Hey sis you having a good day?" he smiled sheepishly.

She pointed at the clock above the serving counter. "What time does that say?"

Manic looked, little hand pointed at the two, big hand was heading towards the twelve at the top. "Nearly two,"

"And what time do you start work at?"

"Twelve noon,"

"Exactly," she folded her arms and glared at him. "Why are you late again?"

"I was fixing my computer, had to clean the keyboard cause the keys were all sticky,"

A snigger came from the kitchen.

"Shut up Sonic!"

Sonic zipped out of the kitchen. "Oh come on Manic, you've used so many excuses. You were talking to mom, you were arranging your book shelf – you don't even read, you were hoovering your carpet – you never hoover," Sonic sniffed his nose. "And what is that smell that's always on you?"

Sonia sniffed too. "Yeah what is that?"

"It's that new fragrance I told you I use. You know, 'C' like the letter," he grinned.

"Just get in the kitchen and start cooking," Sonia snapped at him.

"Alright, alright,"

* * *

The afternoon passed by in a breeze, a steady amount of customers came in and dined and ordered takeaway, Sonic delivered every order on time, Tails cleaned every table down within two minutes after customers had finished and Manic slaved away at the stove cooking all the pizzas and preparing the ingredients. At four Knuckles made his appearance, entering through the back door straight into the kitchen, so he could take the trash straight out and help with the closing that happened around six.

After removing the last trash bag he sat on a chair near Manic. "So what excuse did you use this time?"

"I said I was fixing the computer, the keyboard's keys were all sticky,"

Knuckles sniggered "_The internet is really really great..._"

"Shut up," said Manic flatly.

The echidna laughed.

"You put my stash back in the right drawer didn't you?"

"Well actually I brought it with me here," he pulled the small bag out from the inside of his glove. "I had an idea of what we could do,"

"Are you insane? Why would you bring that out here? We'll get caught with it and you know it's illegal!"

"Manic you need to chillax, come on, you're always super chilled. All we do is, nearer closing time, you make a magherita and we sprinkle some of this on the top, take it back home and chow down on it. My cousin did it, its great,"

"Well it'll be the very last pizza I make. I don't want a customer accidentally eating it. Sonia would bury me in the back yard,"

"Trust me Manic," he replied. "It'll be the best move you ever do,"


	4. Special Ingredient

Manic grabbed the bag from Knuckles and stuffed it into an inside pocket on his vest. "Sonia is already pissed at me for being late,"

"Not my fault,"

Manic scowled at him.

"Last orders!" Sonic called out in the restaurant, that meant the restaurant was closing up, only the kitchen would remain open through the late evening until eleven that night when they officially closed.

Although no one except Sonic worked in there from five to closing as it was just a delivery which he was able to do alone. Missing incoming phone calls wasn't an issue either since Tails' latest invention automatically answered the call and requested an address which in turn activated the connected computer device to log all the information as soon as the customer said it. So Sonic could easily deliver one pizza and then come back and check for more messages, cook and then zoom out again.

Tails began wiping down the tables and tucking the chairs underneath as the customers vacated each one. After the last few had left the restaurant, he went outside to retrieve the pizza sign stand with the days special menu on it bringing it inside and putting it to the side of the doors against a wall. There was a rag there that was used to wipe the stand clean ready for the next morning when the next day's special was scrawled across it. He then finished up the last of the tables before flipping over the 'Open' sign in the door window to 'Closed' and locking the doors. He pulled down the two sets of blinds and turned off the lights for the restaurant. Only the office lights and kitchen lights remained on, and everyone left through the back door after closing time.

"Alright Sonia, I've done the lock up and cleaned all those tables ready for tomorrow," Tails grinned as he stepped into her office to hand her the keys.

"Thank you Tails," said Sonia, she was writing figures on sheets of paper, tallying up the day's takings and making sure everything matched up. "Just hang them on that nail over there in the corner and then you can head home, I'll see you there, I must get these last few sheets completed,"

Tails hung the keys on the nail and then went to the kitchen to chat to the others before making his way back home.

Knuckles stuck his head in the office a second later "Hey Sonia?" he questioned.

"What is it Knuckles?"

"Is it cool if Manic makes me a pizza that I can eat back at yours later? We're just finishing up and it makes sense to just make one here now and take it home rather than call in later for Sonic to make one,"

"Sure Knuckles," she replied.

"Awesome!" Knuckles exclaimed and hurried back into the kitchen.

Manic just finished making a meat feast for Tails to take home with him, he put the pizza in the box, cut it into slices and then folded the box to hand to Tails.

"Thanks Manic," said Tails. "See you later Sonic! Bye Knuckles!"

"See ya later Tails," Sonic replied as Knuckles waved him off at the door.

"Manic I'll get a margherita," said Knuckles. "I just cleared it with Sonia,"

"You know it comes out of your pay check," said Sonic.

"Oh it's so worth it though," Knuckles grinned at him.

Manic began to work on making Knuckles' pizza as Sonia came strolling in through the kitchen after finishing up in the office.

"Ok that's the figures all finished up. I'll see you boys tomorrow. Knuckles can you take out the last of the trash before you go and MANIC," she raised her voice as she said his name, glaring at him angrily from where she was stood.

Manic grinned at her "Yeah Sonia?"

"Do not be late for work tomorrow I will wring your scrawny neck with my scarf," she wrapped said scarf around her own neck and exited through the back door.

Manic stuck his tongue out as the door closed, Sonic and Knuckles laughed.

"Seriously though bro you need to start showing up on time,"

Manic began finishing off the pizza just as a call came in, Sonic took the call. Manic put the pizza into a box, slipping the weed out of his inside pocket he sprinkled some on top of the hot oozing cheese before putting it back into his pocket as Sonic gave him the dialled order. Three margheritas.

"Coming right up," Manic began preparing the next pizzas, the oven was only small though and could only manage two at a time, although it cooked them in quick succession.

"I'll just go put these bags out back," Knuckles said as he picked up the last of the rubbish bags and dragged them out the door with him.

Sonic popped into the kitchen. "Come on bro you're moving too slow I wanna get these pizzas to go,"

"Dude the oven only takes in two at a time," he pulled the cooked pizzas out and put them into their boxes, stacking them neatly on the counter. "Almost done," he put the next one in.

"What pizza did you make Knuckles?"

"Margherita,"

"Alright well you can just make him another one," before Manic could stop him Sonic had grabbed the first finished one on the side, added it to the two on the counter and zipped out the back door.

Knuckles walked back in and saw Manic's dropped jaw and wide eyes like a rabbit in the headlights. "The hell's the matter with you?"

"Sonic took your pizza,"

Knuckles gave him a puzzled look.

Manic grabbed his hair with his hands "The pot is on it!"


	5. Baked

**SpunkiSpirou:** Sorry for the delayed upload, I had a massive writers block and some pretty bad real life situations I had to deal with. And then when I returned to write this chapter the notes for it didn't match up to how the last chapter ended - such as where certain characters were supposed to be, so I had to partially re-write the notes to then write the full chapter in a way it would then re-link up to the chapter after this. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to leave a review!

* * *

Knuckles' own eyes grew wider as the messages finally reached his brain. "Ok we just need to keep calm," he said, but Manic was already getting into hysterics over it.

He meant to lightly slap him in the face to shake him out of it but Knuckles always forgot his own strength so the light slap in the face was actually a punch in the face and sent Manic straight to the floor.

"Whoops," said Knuckles. "Manic?"

Manic was laid silently on the floor rubbing his face, glaring up at Knuckles. "Dude!"

"Look lets just go home and you'll see in the morning everything will be fine, they probably won't even notice it was on there they'll think it's some sort of herb," said Knuckles.

Manic scratched his head. "I guess," he got back to his feet and took the fresh pizza out the oven and put it into the box.

"Trust me Manic man," said Knuckles, smiling like a cheshire cat. "Everything will be fine, now lets get going,"

Manic collected up the pizza and a few other things from the kitchen and the two of them left out the back door and headed for home.

* * *

Sonic arrived at the customer's doorstep, the pizza's were still nice and warm ready to be eaten and it wasn't long before the customer came to the door.

"Oh hey there Sally, long time no see," Sonic cried as the door opened to reveal a scantily dressed squirrel.

"Hey Sonic," she replied. "Thanks for bringing the pizzas round, they'll do nicely,"

"So what's going on?" Sonic asked, making conversation as Sally retreated into the house to get the money for him.

"Oh I've just finished looking after some of the kids from sanctuary, we thought we'd end the day with some nice warm pizza," she set the pizza boxes down on a table in the room and then walked across to where her bag was located. "And I knew your sister's place with its top reviews was the best place to order from," she retrieved her purse from out of her bag and walked back over to Sonic. "Also I hadn't seen you in a while," she pulled some coins and a couple of notes from the purse and handed them to Sonic. "And so I thought this would be the perfect excuse to see you again," she finished, smiling happily.

"Yeah Sally, its been awesome seeing you. I hope the kids enjoy the pizza,"

"Don't you want to come in and have some yourself?"

"Sally I would totally love to but its the evening shift and I'm the only one on and I gotta get back there. But I can meet you some other time and we can kick back and catch up on old times, huh?"

Sally nodded. "Okay Sonic. Take care!"

"Laters!" Sonic waved as he stepped away from the house and sped off back to the parlour.

Sally closed the door and turned back to the pizzas in the room. "Kids!" she shouted. "Dinner is here!"

* * *

Back at the Hedgehogs' home, Sonia had put on her overnight makeup and already gone to bed when Manic and Knuckles got in. They went straight up into Manic's room.

"Alright!" Knuckles shouted. "Pizza time!" he opened the box as Manic pulled the packet from his vest's inner pocket.

"Dude you wanna keep your voice down else you'll wake Sonia up!" he hissed, but was swiftly followed by a soft thudding noise on the wall anyway.

"MANIC!" her shrieky voice managed to travel through even the density of the wall. "Shut up shouting in there I can hear you and I need my sleep!"

Manic rolled his eyes. "Sorry sis!" he glared at Knuckles.

"Sorry Manic," Knuckles whispered. "Didn't think she'd wake up,"

"She was probably still awake anyway," Manic whispered back. "Anyway lets get on with this before it gets cold," he began to sprinkle the weed over the pizza, after he finished he took a slice out, Knuckles took another slice out and the two began to chow down.

Knuckles had been so right, it was the greatest thing ever! Manic had never tasted a pizza so amazingly delicious, it was as though someone had injected the flavour with a boost of unexplainable better tastes. Cheese was no longer its regular taste, it was something more, but there were no words to explain it.

Manic wasn't sure when exactly they went to bed, he just woke up to find Knuckles sprawled across the floor, the empty pizza box in the trash and about twenty minutes left to get ready before his shift started at work that day.


	6. Arrested

**SpunkiSpirou**: Had a few system issues that has caused the delay in this chapter being added. As I live in the UK a lot of my research has been from the UK side of things. Hope you enjoy it and don't forget to leave me a review :)

* * *

Sonia was less than impressed when she arrived at her parlour that morning to find police all over the place like bees on a honey pot. She stood outside tapping her foot in a disgruntled manner as an officer dressed in a red uniform with golden embellishments, yellow and green boots, who looked an awful lot like her brother Sonic, scrawled notes in a brown notepad with a black marker pen.

At first she had thought it was her brother messing about and had shouted her mouth off at him to get out of the ridiculous outfit and get to work, the officer was completely unamused with her outrage and presented his card to her, to which she instantly apologised.

Tails was just as confused as she was, he'd barely opened up the place when they all arrived, three cars filled with six officers and two sniffer dogs. They presented a warrant that enabled them to enter the premises and conduct a search after they had received a call from a concerned customer.

"Ma'am we will also need to search your home," the officer said to Sonia.

Sonia sighed. "How long will this take? I have a business to run, I have customers who will be coming to order and they need to be served,"

"Ma'am until the investigations are completed this establishment will remain closed," was his reply.

Sonia crossed her arms and growled as she leaned back against the wall near to the entrance. This was not good for her business, the papers would soon hear about it and then write bad reviews, which would then turn people away from dining there.

Tails was being interviewed by another officer just as Sonic arrived to start work and was met by the officers at the scene.

"Ooooh what did I just walk into here?" he sounded confused, as he walked over to Sonia and his lookalike.

"Sir I need to ask you some questions about your movements last night when you delivered a pizza to a-," he fumbled in his police jacket for a computer print out sheet which he pulled out and read from "Miss Sally Acorn," he returned the sheet to the pocket he had pulled it from. "The pizza contained a little something extra it shouldn't have contained, do you know anything about this?"

"Well I guess she isn't complaining about extra cheese on it?"

"Sonic..." Sonia growled at him.

"Well she ordered three margheritas, I gave the order to Manic, he was keeping me waiting on the third one when he'd made one so I took the already made one and zipped over to the customer,"

The officer scribbled everything into his notepad. "And who is this Manic?"

"Our brother," the twins said in unison, Sonia's in a flat tone.

He noted that down as well before asking his next question. "And where can we find Manic?"

* * *

Manic had barely pulled his vest on when there was a loud rapping noise at the front door. He considered slipping out the back door and jumping the fence as he knew opening the front one to greet the visitor would result in some sort of discussion and would make him late for work and then Sonia would get mad. _Oh fuck it._ He thought and went to answer the front door anyway, running his fingers through his spiked hair as he went.

He opened the front door to see what he wrongly assumed to be his brother standing there. "Sup bro, nice outfit, you shown it to sis yet?"

The lookalike simply held up a card to his face.

Manic took the card and read it. "Officer Zonic," the wheels in his brain instantly clicked and he regretted his choice of opening the front door instead of using the back door and hopping over the fence.

Zonic swiftly pulled out a pair of metal handcuffs and clipped them around Manic's wrists as he said the words, "Manic Hedgehog, I am arresting you for section twenty three on suspicion of being in possession of a controlled substance. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence," he pulled him over to one side as a pair of officers stepped over the threshold into the property and began searching through the rooms.

With his hands cuffed behind his back, Manic was led by Zonic from their home to a waiting police van where he was placed into the back, the doors shut and locked behind him. The back of the van consisted of a raised area for sitting on and metal caging all around it. The forward facing section had a sheet of clear plastic covering the other side of the metal frame that allowed vision into the front of the vehicle where the officers would sit to manoeuvre it.

Usually Manic would be picking the locks and escaping but the adrenaline rush inside of him was causing him to physically shake all over and picking locks required concentration and a steady hand.

The three officers wandered around, in and out of the house, removing items individually wrapped in evidence bags and placing them into a nearby patrol car.

* * *

The morning shifted into the early afternoon as Tails, Sonia and Sonic made their way back to where home was.

"He is so dead when I get my hands on him!" Sonia growled, her frustration had reached its limit and she was ready to impale the first fellow being she laid her eyes on.

"Sis you wouldn't want to be committing another crime within the same day. Just chill, I figure this is all just an accidental mix up with a herb,"

"Sonic..." she growled again. "My restaurant is closed for the remainder of the week. That means no customers. That means no money. That means the bills won't get paid. All because he's taken drugs into my four star restaurant that I worked so hard to earn and give it the reputation it's got!"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Even if bro is doing drugs I doubt he would be dumb enough to take them to the restaurant,"

"If I lose one of my stars for this-"

"Oh shut up about the stars Sonia!"

"Hey guys," Tails cut in as Sonia's face slightly changed into a shade of carmine. "The cops are still here," he pointed towards the house that was visible at the end of the street.

The trio hurried over to the house, Sonic getting there before them as he zipped over in an instance, and watched as the zone cops finished collecting the last items of what they deemed to be evidence necessary to the crime that had been committed. Sonia spotted a rather sheepish looking Knuckles in handcuffs being led to the back of a regular patrol car and hurried over just as the officer was opening the door to put him inside.

"Where are you taking him?" she cried.

"Ma'am please step away from the vehicle and let us do our jobs. He is under arrest and will be taken to the station to be interviewed," the officer put Knuckles in and closed the door.

"How long will you have him for?"

"I can not say at this point in time," the officer stepped towards the front door and after opening it took a seat behind the wheel. He pressed a button on the side of his radio and began to speak into it. "Two detained, ten fifty, ten nineteen, over," there was some muffled feedback before the radio crackled with the reply 'ten four'.

He closed the door and started up the engine of the vehicle. The other officer climbed into his patrol car that contained all the evidence collected from the house and the two vehicles left the scene and headed towards the police station.

Zonic was still filling out some colored forms over by the door. He finished his scribbling and pulled the sheets out of his clipboard, he passed a blue one to Tails who was standing nearby. "This is your copy of all items that have been seized as evidence. All items will be held until we have completed the investigation," he returned the white copy of the sheet to the clipboard and began to walk towards the police van.

Tails and Sonia observed the sheet he had been handed at the items that were listed on it. A fanny pack, some clothing items, an empty pizza box, various papers, there were items listed which would leave you scratching your head as to why they were seized, they seemed to have no relation to the crime that was at hand.

As Zonic opened the driver's door of the vehicle Sonic was stood next to it asking how long they would have his brother for. "Sir, you will be contacted when he is released. Until then please go indoors and keep out of trouble," with that he sat inside and closed the door.

Sonic watched as the cop pressed various buttons and flicked different switches on the dashboard before starting the vehicle and driving away.


	7. Custody

**SpunkiSpirou**: Its a little overdue but here is the next chapter. As I have learnt in America you don't have custody but here in the UK we do. So instead of going to 'jail' they have gone to 'custody' and I have tried to cover the custody process as best as I can below. I hope you all enjoy it and please leave me a review after reading it.

* * *

It was early evening by the time the police vehicles were pulling into the local station with their arrestees. Zonic drove the large van round to the back of the building while the regular cruisers, that contained the evidence and Knuckles, drove towards the front entrance.

From inside the back of the van, Manic watched through the small visible window as they gently rolled into a dead end area and a large metal gate came down behind them. He listened as he heard the officer turn the engine off and climb out of the drivers seat, slamming the door shut behind him. He waited, thinking the officer was walking round to the back of the van to let him out, but instead there was just silence.

Back at the front of the building the two regular cruisers had entered a similar sectioned off area, and after the gate had been lowered and sealed off any exits, the officers began removing the evidence from one of the patrol cars whilst another officer removed Knuckles from the back of the other cruiser and led him through a security door into the building.

Knuckles was led down a thin corridor that was lined with weird blue lighted strips, doors were opened before him by means of a plastic card being waved against a sensory panel, they soon reached a half circle central area that had a desk with another officer behind it, typing away on a computer keyboard. Knuckles quickly recognised him as Officer Zonic and wondered where Manic was.

Zonic finished the typing he was doing and looked over the desk down at Knuckles below him. "Hello," he said with a slight smile across his face, almost like the cat who got the cream. He nodded towards the officer that had led the young echidna inside to release him of the handcuffs around his wrists, before presenting Knuckles with a sheet of paper and a pen to write with. "I need you to read and sign this please,"

Knuckles picked up the sheet and looked down it to the dotted signature line at the bottom, he didn't want to admit he couldn't properly read and just signed it as he'd been asked to before handing it back.

"Now I need you to answer a few questions," said the officer, typing away on the computer. Knuckles was presented with various health questions all of which he replied to with a simple no, and other questions about his personal information such as date of birth and age that required a bit more thinking on his part to give answers to. Zonic continued entering data into the computer system before nodding towards his fellow comrade to lead Knuckles away into a cell.

The red echidna was walked down a corridor to about the midway section, the cell door was opened for him and he saw inside it was padded. He was asked to remove his footwear, socks and gloves, which he did straight away and was given some bigger padded gloves to put over his hands. The authority figure then walked him to the far side of the padded cell, gave him a few information sheets about what was going to happen next, and then exited closing the door behind him. Knuckles listened to the clicking noise that let him know the door had been locked and the footsteps as they steadily grew fainter as the officer retreated back to the main desk.

He sighed and sat on the squishy bed in the corner, he wondered how long he would be here and where Manic was. He picked up the sheets and looked over them, it wasn't that he couldn't completely not read, because he could. Just, guarding the master emerald didn't really require any reading as part of the job and neither had his job at Sonia's place of taking the rubbish out. He put the papers down to the side and laid down on the soft bunk, at least it was comfy.

* * *

Manic figured he was being left in the back of the van and so he had pulled a hidden hair pin from the inside of his spiked bracelet and was jamming it around inside of the lock to get the cuffs off. He thought he had done it when he heard a faint click, he put the hairpin down beside him and tried to pull one of his hands out of the binding device. Just as he was about to scratch his head in confusion the back door of the van suddenly flew open as Zonic had returned to collect him. He jumped from the sudden shock and grabbed at the hairpin beside him trying to hide it before the cop could see it.

"We're ready for you inside now," Zonic said to him.

The lime green hedgehog got to his feet and walked over to the door before jumping the short height down to the ground. Outside the vehicle were two other cops, each one took hold of one of Manic's arms and led him down a similar corridor that Knuckles had previously been led down to the main central desk again.

Zonic resumed his position behind the desk and began typing away at the computer once more. Manic was walked to the front of the desk where the officers let go of his arms. He stood there with the officers still on either side of him, shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other waiting for Zonic to speak to him, which he soon did.

"Okay what is your first name?" he asked the young hedgehog.

"It's Manic sir," he replied.

The officer keyed this into the computer before asking him for his last name and date of birth. "And your age is?"

"I'm fifteen sir,"

The information was typed into the computer. "Tell me, have you ever been arrested before?"

Manic thought about this question for a moment before giving a reply, "No sir,"

"Have you consumed any drugs in the last twenty four hours?"

"Yes sir,"

"What drugs have you consumed?"

"Pot sir,"

Zonic then asked a few other questions about any medical conditions Manic had as well such as if he had ever tried to hurt himself and also if he had drank any alcohol in the last twenty four hours. After taking his answers and entering them into the computer he then gave Manic the same sheet as Knuckles had received moments ago and asked him to read through it and sign at the bottom, which he did so.

Next he was relieved of the handcuffs and asked to remove items of his attire. He removed his gloves and placed them onto the desk, followed by his spiked wristbands. The officer to his left side picked up each item and turned them inside out, checking the inside for anything that may have been hidden away. He was then asked to remove his vest, which was also turned inside out to check for anything hidden and the pockets turned out. The few items retrieved from the pockets were laid on the desk and the vest was returned to Manic to put back on. Next he was requested to remove his footwear as well as his socks, these too were thoroughly checked before being given back to him to put on.

Zonic looked at the items that had been displayed in front of him, the items that had been visible and the additional items that consisted of mostly hairpins, a paper clip, a stick of gum and a small empty re-sealing bag.

The items were put together into a clear bag and Manic was told they would be secured in a locker in the back and would be returned to him on leaving the station. He was then asked to give a digital signature on an electronic pad, and after completing that he was then taken into a side room.

One officer had Manic sit on a straight backed chair facing a camera, telling Manic to first look straight into the lens of the camera, and then to look to his left at a dot marked on the wall. He snapped two photos of the hedgehog before the other led him over to a large square shaped machine that looked like it was a photocopier. On the machine was a small green glassed area, the officer took one of Manic's hands and pressed each of his fingers onto the panel, then his thumb, the side of his hand and his palm. He then repeated the actions with his other hand, before taking a cotton budded small rod and after asking Manic to open his mouth he proceeded to gently rub at the inside of his cheeks to obtain a DNA sample which was then put into a clear tube and labelled with his name and a few other pieces of information.

After all that was completed Manic was led back to the front desk where Zonic was still sat at the computer typing data in and clicking the mouse on occasions, who told him that a urine sample was required. He was then given another clear tube similar to the one his DNA swab had been placed inside and led to a toilet cubicle to one side of the main desk. He was given a plastic cup of water to drink before entering to give his sample.

Manic walked into the cubicle and after locking the door he sat down on the toilet to think for a moment about his quandary. _Oh man how did I get here like this._ He thought to himself, it was all so much for him to process in so little time. He knew he couldn't waste too much time because the officers outside would soon be banging on the door for him to hurry up with the sample. He quickly produced the sample needed then exited the small cubicle, passing the tube back to the waiting officers outside.

They walked him back to the front desk where the sample was handed to Zonic who took it into a room behind the counter before returning to the desk and speaking to Manic once more.

"Thank you for your co operation Manic, my fellow officers here will now escort you to your cell where you will be detained until your attorney arrives here and then you will be interviewed and then we will go from there. Ok?"

Although it seemed like he was asking Manic a question at the end of his sentence the only answer Manic could really answer with was a yes. So why he asked it as though asking a question was rather pointless in this situation.

The officers led Manic down another corridor to the ones he had previously walked through all the way to the end where they then requested he remove his footwear and socks once more. As Manic's feet touched the cool ground beneath him they placed these into a small enclosed locker outside of the cell before steering Manic inside the cell and shutting the door behind him.

Manic walked over and sat down on the supplied bunk area as the guards locked the door behind him and then walked away. He listened to their footsteps as they grew quieter and quieter the further they got away from him.

Leaning back against the wall he sighed deeply, Sonia was so angry with him, he wondered if she would forgive him for this. _Hmm, probably not._ She'd be too busy fussing over her business than him, he never really thought his sister was too bothered about him. Yeah, she claimed she loved him but when she was always criticizing his lifestyle and his childhood home and his upbringing, it did make him wonder if it was really a caring kind of love or an 'I'm just putting up with you because you're family' kind of love.

He wondered what the time was as well, maybe around midnight? It had been the late afternoon when they picked him, then they'd driven to the station, then there was the waiting and all those questions and samples given at the desk and now he had to wait for an attorney to show up so he could discuss his case with them first and then be interviewed on tape by the police in an interview room. And then, he wasn't sure what would happen after that, he'd not been in this situation before.

He laid down on his side, tucking his knees up against his chest and hugging himself. He felt cold without anything being on his hands and feet. There wasn't really anything in here to help him keep warm either, he wondered where Knuckles was too. He shut his eyes, not to go to sleep but just to not have to look at the bland colors of the cell. He would be out of there soon right?

* * *

Back at the front desk Zonic was still entering data onto the computer in front of him, he'd made a few phone calls whilst his officers were collecting what they needed from Manic and Knuckles. The officers came back and headed into the lounge to relax, their job for the night was done and they could go sit down until they were next needed again.

Zonic placed a few files into a cabinet beside the desk before picking up the phone again and entering a number into the keypad. He sat there as the phone began to dial a few times over and soon someone on the other line picked up.

"Hello Chaotix Agency,"

"Hello, this is Officer Zonic of the Station Square Squad could you have two attorneys attend in the next few minutes please?"

"I certainly can could you hold the line one moment," there was the sound of a pen clicking and some scrawling across some paper. "Ok I can have them over there within the next hour for you,"

"Thanks that will be brilliant,"

"Alright, send me the details through the fax and I'll give the jobs to them,"

"I will do, thank you, goodbye," Zonic hung up the handset on his side, clicking the computer to print out a couple of pages of information for the attorney agency he got to his feet and walked over to the printer retrieved the sheets and then put those sheets into another machine that gently sucked them inside and sent them through to the agency.

Zonic then returned to his seat at the front and waited for the attorneys to arrive.


	8. Chaotix Agency

**SpunkiSpirou**: Been a long time since I added a chapter here. Had a bit of a writer's block and real world getting in the way. But looking to get back into the swing of things real soon! So here is the next chapter, hope you enjoy it and please leave me a review at the end. :)

* * *

A large bulky machine that sat neatly in the corner of a room bleeped and dinged as a couple of sheets began to feed through it. The area it was positioned in had various framed awards hanging around the walls, one read _Attorney Of The Year_ whilst another read _5 Rings Award_, they were both framed inside glass sheets with sleek wooden borders around them. To another side of the room was a large desk with a computer on it surrounded by some papers, a black phone and a couple of small flowering plants to help brighten the room with a splash of color.

As the papers finished coming through and the machine stopped making its series of noises they were picked up by a small buzzing bumble bee. His wings lightly beat up and down at around two hundred times a second, the speed they travelled at created the light buzzing noise and allowed him to float just above the ground as well as manoeuvre around the room at ease. He carefully flicked through the papers as he made his way to the door, making sure everything was in order. Once he was satisfied that they were he slowly floated out of the area, turned left and drifted down a long corridor.

He soon reached a large wooden door and landed on his feet just before it. He knocked loudly three times and waited for a reply.

"Come in!" a muffled voice called from inside.

With that, he turned the handle, pushed the door open and walked inside, carefully closing it behind him.

This room was a lot larger compared to the first, inside were two large desks at opposite ends of the room but facing towards each other. The desk to the right was very organised, neatly stacked papers to one corner and an open laptop towards the centre that was being typed away on by a royal purple chameleon. His lemon colored eyes were completely focused on whatever he was typing up. However the other desk to the left was rather untidy looking, different piles of unaligned papers were towards the edges, one pile was even on the floor. Beside them was a large box of doughnuts and a cup of coffee, the hand of a large lime green crocodile picked up a round pink iced doughnut and snapped it up in his long jaws.

"Mmmhmm! Delish!" he cried. "Are you sure you don't want one Espio?"

The purple chameleon stopped tapping away on his device, slowly turned his head to the direction the other one was in and replied with. "No thank you."

The crocodile shrugged. "Suit yourself, but you're missing out!"

Espio turned his head again to the direction of the bumble bee. "What do you have there Charmy?"

"It's a new job!" he chirruped. "There's one for you Espio and another for you Vector!"

The crocodile had been taking a gulp of coffee which he promptly choked and spluttered on. "Two jobs at once?" he cried.

Charmy passed one set of papers to Espio and the other to Vector. "Yeah! I told the officer you'd be there within an hour to help!"

Espio calmly browsed through the papers, reading the information very thoroughly. Vector on the other hand was much more wild about it, spreading his across the desk, knocking other paper piles to the floor whilst still feeding his mouth with more doughnuts.

"Seems like a simple enough case," he snapped. "Probably be done within ten minutes, and we can go via that doughnut place again and get a refill. You think she'll give me them for free if I ask her nice enough?"

"We should head to the station first." Espio commented.

"Now now, what's the rush? We can get some doughnuts on the way there and then some more on the way back. We could even pass by that sushi place you like so much!"

Espio closed his eyes and sighed before opening them again. "Okay, but only for a quick bite. I skipped lunch earlier." He got up from his desk, packing away his laptop and his part of the papers into a small bag.

The green reptile sucked and licked each of his fingers clean of doughnut stickiness, finished the rest of his coffee and dumped the empty containers into a waste paper bin beside his desk. Only the bin was already overfilled with past rubbish so the new waste simply bounced off the top and landed in a heap to one side of it.

"Charmy! My bin needs to be cleaned out." he said as he packed his crumb covered ruffled papers into a bag similar to Espio's. "Be sure to get that done by the time we return, okay kid?"

"Okie dokie!"

The crocodile and his chameleon companion made their way through the office, past Charmy's receptionist room and out of the front door.

The little insect grabbed a broom and hummed a happy tune as he began to sweep up the mess left behind.

* * *

Back at the station Knuckles sat twiddling his thumbs in his cell. It sure was boring in there. He started to wonder how long he had been there. Time is a hard thing to tell when you don't have a clock or a watch face to look at. Even a sand timer would have been some use. Maybe it had only been ten minutes but it could also have been ten hours. How was he to know?

At the same time he wondered how Sonia would react to him being in a place like that. He started wondering what sort of story he could come up with, he wasn't the bad one in this. His record was clean, Manic's not so much, but his was as clean as a whistle. Maybe he was a little gullible at times but, wait! The drugs weren't his, they were Manic's.

Yeah, the drugs were Manic's, not his.

Knuckles grinned a little, he'd be out in no time.

And right on cue the door to his cell opened and the guard beckoned him over to the door.

"We're taking you to the waiting room. Your attorney is on his way and will be here shortly."

* * *

Espio stood calmly eating small pieces of sushi from an aluminium takeout box outside of the _Delish Donuts! _Vector had been inside for quite some time, selecting more doughnuts.

"Patience is not the ability to wait," he used his chopsticks to select another piece of fish. "But the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting," and popped it into his mouth.

The door to the doughnuts shop burst open as his green friend bumbled out with two large bags in either hand. The sushi lover eyed the bags suspiciously as his lemon irises met with the amber ones above him.

"Guess what? They do pretzels now as well!" he shuffled the bags around so he could pull a large salted pretzel out, holding it out towards him.

"No thank you." Espio replied, finishing off the last of his sushi meal and putting the rubbish into a nearby public dustbin.

"Well how about a doughnut then?" he hastily ate the pretzels, spraying crumbs everywhere as he dove back into his bags to retrieve a doughnut.

"Vector, we need to get to the station now."

"Now now Espio, we have plenty of time." He pulled out what he was looking for, a purple glazed chocolate ring doughnut. "I saw this one at the counter and thought you'd like it. Look it even has a hole in it!"

Before Espio could repeat his previous answer he found that Vector had already slid it down his long pointed horn. He contained his annoyance at this action as he pulled the sugary sticky treat back off and discarded it into a paper bag, he would eat it later.

The pair walked the remainder of the way to the police station, it was only round the corner. Vector crunched and chewed his way through a further three boxes of pretzels and doughnuts, but kept a couple to one side.

"Always nice to bring a few to the station for the officers. The little lady said these ones were a new recipe too. Sounded good from what she was describing to me."

Espio wiped his horn clean with a moist tissue as they entered the front of the station.

"Alright guys!" the croc cried out. "We're here! And we brought you some treats!" he plonked the boxes of doughnuts onto the front counter. "I'll take a cup of joe and I'll see my client."

A mammoth of a cat sat behind the counter and happily accepted the treats that had been thrust before him. "These look good!" he cried. "Right this way!" he signalled to his left where another officer held the secure entrance door open for them.

Vector and Espio made their way through the doors and followed the officer into the main area of the station.

"Thank you for coming so quickly to the station," he said. "Espio if you could wait in this next room I shall fetch your client for you."

They stopped at a door to a small room with large bay windows in the wall, this allowed the officers at the main desk to see into the room in case a dangerous situation occurred. The rooms were completely soundproof though, that way if a client slipped up in a bad way to the attorney they could make sure they didn't for the actual recorded interview room.

"Is there anything I can get for you?"

"Just a small glass of water, thank you." Espio entered the room and took one of the seats at the table inside. He put his bag down beside him and carefully pulled the papers out and laid them across the surface in front of him.

The officer led Vector a little further way down to another room equally identical to the first.

"Your client will be brought over here soon. He will be interviewed first so you have around an hour to prepare with him. And I will fetch you that coffee you asked for."

"If you could add a caramel drizzle to it, that would be much appreciated," the crocodile quickly added as he opened the door and entered the room, closing it gently behind him. He sat at the table and pulled his crumpled papers out of his bag, doing the best he could to straight them out against the table so they would look a bit more presentable. A few crumbs were swept onto the floor and the bit of chocolate icing he gently licked off another sheet. "Good as new!" he cried.

The handle to the door squeaked as it was turned, he looked to it as it swung open and his client was led in by the officer.

"Alright there dude?" Vector asked warmly, as his client took the seat on the other side of the table from him.


End file.
